The pathological and molecular findings associated with Histomonas meleagridis are described in a leucistic Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) from Southern Brazil. The most significant gross findings were multifocal necrotizing hepatitis and diphtheric typhlitis. Histopathologic evaluation of the liver, ceca, kidney, spleen, and small intestine revealed systemic histomoniasis (SH) associated with intralesional and intravascular accumulations of histomonad organisms consistent with H. meleagridis. PCR was used to amplify the DNA of H. meleagridis from the liver, ceca, small intestine, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Direct sequencing and phylogenetic analyses confirmed that the isolate of the flagellated trichomonad identified from this investigation is more phylogenetically related to H. meleagridis than Tetratrichomonas gallinarum, Tritrichomonas foetus, and Dientamoeba fragilis. These results confirmed the occurrence of SH in this peafowl and add to the diagnosis of this disease in birds from Brazil. This report might represent the first complete identification of spontaneous histomoniasis in a peafowl due to pathological and molecular characteristics and one of the few documented cases of SH in non-commercial birds.
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20 June 2017
Systemic Histomoniasis in a Leucistic Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) from Southern Brazil
Mariana de Mello Zanim Michelazzo,
João Pedro Sasse,
Marielen de Souza,
Victor Hugo Brunaldi Marutani,
Ana Angelita Sampaio Baptista,
João Luis Garcia,
Amauri Alcindo Alfieri,
Selwyn Arlington Headley
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Avian Diseases
Vol. 61 • No. 3
September 2017
Vol. 61 • No. 3
September 2017
diagnostic pathology
Histomonas meleagridis
molecular diagnostics
trichomonad